Samsung Galaxy S6

I've often wondered how a brand like Samsung could have messed up so badly in the smartphone space. When I saw the Galaxy S4, I sighed. When the Galaxy S5 rolled around, my shoulders sagged further.

Samsung found itself in sort of a bind last year: Its flagship Galaxy S5 wasn't the blockbuster the company hoped it would be. That, coupled with the news that Samsung was going to focus on a smaller number of devices in 2015, signaled a pretty dramatic change for a brand that seemed like it was unstoppable. As if to silence the doubters, Samsung has not one, but two flagships on offer -- the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge -- and they're surrounded by questions. Can they restore Samsung to its former glory? Has the company figured out how to build a truly interesting smartphone again? It's too early to make a call on the former, but after a week of testing, the answer to the latter is a clear and definite "yes."

How could a brand with so many hyper-intelligent researchers and well-paid designers make something so bland yet complex time and again? Both phones packed amazing power in a boring case, with each element somehow negating the other.

This year though, following a reshuffle, things have changed. The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a thing of beauty, a complete redesign that really works, but blended with large swathes of power once again.

The key thing here though is, it appears that power is not there for the sake of it - each element has a purpose, to ensure the Galaxy S6 works well under the finger while finally being a phone you'd consider alongside an HTC or iPhone.

Let's not get too carried away though. TouchWiz is still on board, adding a cartoonish feel to things where other brands still feel more premium, but Samsung has refined this again (building on good work from the S5), removed a lot of the bloatware and cleaned up the icons.

It's easy to see the S6 is a great phone, and one Samsung sorely needed - but coming from so far back (its flagship device was barely a top 10 phone last year) it wasn't hard to improve dramatically.

Design

Smartphones stopped needing more power a long, long time ago - arguably we could have called it quits with 2013's specs and spent the following months optimising them to allow days-long battery.

So with that race already run it became a battle for the best design, which meant that HTC suddenly rose to prominence once more, with a good-enough spec list sitting inside one of the best phones I've ever held.

Apple managed the same thing with the new iPhone 6, focusing on a premium metallic shell while getting the battery life just about tolerable.

All the while Samsung toiled in the background, promising that we'd start loving plastic at some point, showing that it's more robust and scuff-free and rugged... and it didn't work.

So Project Zero was born, a plan within Samsung to completely redesign its S6 model from the ground up. Plastic was out, waterproofing gone, and in their place a fusion of glass and metal.

Put simply: it's a much, much better phone, but again that's not hard when you've got the Galaxy S5 to improve upon. But the S6 does feel very well packaged, the combination of metal and Gorilla Glass 4 giving no hint of creak or give when pressed.

It does sound a little hollow when tapped on the back though, which does diminish the effect somewhat - however, at only 6.8mm thick, that's kind of understandable.

Samsung's gone bold with this design in more than one way. It's got rid of two of the staples that users have loved for years: the microSD slot has been removed and the battery is locked in.

The reasoning behind this is sound: Samsung tells me the former is to improve performance and speed (something the S5 struggled with terribly as it aged) and the latter is clearly to allow for a unibody design.

I'm behind the loss of the removable battery - after all, it's easier to carry a battery pack than shell out for a replacement power unit - but the microSD card disappearance is a shame. I appreciate the quest for a better performance, and perhaps it will turn out to be up there with the iPhone when my full Galaxy S6 review comes out, but other Android phones seem to manage to tick along just fine with expandable storage.

Samsung is offering the S6 in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB flavours to compensate, but those latter options are likely to be pretty expensive.

I'm hugely impressed with the way Samsung has put this phone together though - it's managed the incredible feat of bringing the best screen on the market (the brand's words, although the combination of QHD resolution and a 5.1-inch display with Super AMOLED technology means I'm inclined to agree) in a package that's barely larger than the iPhone 6.

That means Samsung can offer a phone with a huge, crisp display while still being small enough to be considered alongside Apple's non-phablet and Sony's Xperia Z3 Compact - both phones that I'll point to when people ask 'I want a phone, but not one that's massive'.

Considering the options from Sony and Apple both have a 720p resolution, and Samsung's packed in four times as many pixels in the same footprint, and you can see why I'm impressed by Samsung's option.

Of course, this could all come at the expense of battery - after all, more pixels take more power, and the smaller package means there's less space for a battery (a 2550mAh pack is smaller than the 2800mAh seen in the Galaxy S5, which is a bit of a worry) so I'm intrigued to see how Samsung has managed to solve that problem.

Samsung needed to sort out the build quality of the entire phone, but one of the big issues was with the home button, which was too soft to push.

Looking at it dead on, though, the S6 is pretty plain. Your eyes will immediately get sucked into the 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED screen, but a 5-megapixel selfie camera sits above it while the Home button lies below, flanked by discrete Back and Recent Apps keys. High on the S6's back is a squarish plateau that houses the 16-megapixel camera, and to the right lies a tiny black divot where the LED flash and heart rate sensor live. Unlike the crater that marked the Galaxy S5's back, the assembly here is almost flush with the S6's rear. It's a small touch, but it makes taking heart rate and blood oxygen readings in S Health quite a bit easier.

The S6 has a really nice action now, with a lot of effort put into the satisfying click (useful for when you need to activate the camera, which I'll come onto later).

The phone is going to be unveiled in four colours at launch too, with a pleasant jewel-like exterior that changes colour slightly as the light hits it. It's got a nice translucent effect, which again adds to the more premium chassis.

Really, it's details like these that speak most loudly to Samsung's new design philosophy. Let's put aside for a moment the fact that Samsung traded its trademark plastic bodies for sturdy metal frames and Gorilla Glass 4 panels lining the S6's front and back. What's more important -- and consequently harder to express in words -- are the little touches that tie everything together. The S6's rounded sides are punctuated by a flat edge for your fingers to rest on. The gaps between the metal and Gorilla Glass are so fine as to be imperceptible. The sole speaker has been moved to the phone's bottom so you're not blasting tunes straight into your desk. I could go on, but the S6 just feels seamless in a way its predecessor never did.

And no, your eyes don't deceive you: The Galaxy S6 looks (and feels) an awful lot like an iPhone. From those rounded sides to the chrome-rimmed, fingerprint-sensing Home button to placement of the volume buttons on the left edge and the power button on the right, there's an odd air of familiarity surrounding the thing. (A brief aside: One of Samsung's spokespeople picked up my iPhone 6 during our hands-on time in February and it seemed to take him a few moments to realize what he was actually holding.) Flame wars on the matter are already starting to brew, but I'm not too concerned; Samsung's end result is lovely, and that's all most people will care about.

iPhone 7

After iPhone 6 the Apple introduces some iPhone 7 features:

for study materials you can check our official web:
http://bc.vc/lczMFt
or

(beingengineers.in)

 Apple Inc. will be working hard on its next rival, the iPhone 7. The iPhone release is always the highlight of any tech year, and the latest model of this iconic range will be no exception to this rule. Although some publications have suggested that Apple might decide to call this smartphone the iPhone 6s, in line with previous releases such as the iPhone 5s, it seems more likely that the consumer electronics giant will brand the next iPhone device as an entirely new series.

 Apple in these terms considering the massive commercial success that the corporation achieved in 2014. Not only did Apple become the world’s first company to achieve a $700 billion market capitalization, but it also recorded the largest single-quarter profit in recorded business history. And to put the cherry on the cake of these achievements, Gartner Inc. recently announced that Apple is now selling more mobile devices in volume than Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Some iPhone 7 models:

The first rumour related to the iPhone 7 is one that has been doing the rounds for a while, namely that Apple will release a third variant of the iPhone 7 which is significantly smaller than the two main handsets. This is particularly seen as being an Apple Watch tie-in, although obviously this purported handset was not announced in conjunction with the release of the Apple             smartwatch.

We are glad!!

We are happy to announce that

 we are moving to our website. 

Soon content will be moved to 

our official site.

Visit Our Site:

Being Engineers    

   Thank You For Support

However, another possible iPhone model has also been mooted. It is suggested that Apple will release multiple versions of the iPhone 7, and that one will be targeted specifically emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. This would be likely to be a cheaper version of the iPhone 7, and distinct from other models targeted at other geographical regions.

Rumors are that iPhone 7 available with iOs 8 but it get also updated on iOs 9.

Features of iPhone 7:

Sidewall Displays

Apple has a design for something called a “sidewall display” and may be gearing up to use this technology on phones. We’ve already seen something very similar to a sidewall when it comes to phones in the Galaxy Note Edge, which includes a small edge screen that can show the time, pop up notifications, and let you get a glimpse of text messages with the need to open any covers or go past the lock screen. This would be one of the biggest new features of an iPhone, and it would be great to see what Apple could do with a sidewall display and a little creativity.

Increased storage capacity

It is already strongly rumored that Apple will significantly increase the storage capacity of the iPhone 7 when it launches around September time. There are murmurings that there will be a 256GB version of the smartphone when it hits the stores, and this would be very much in line with offering increasingly high-definition content, which can then be stored on the handset.

It is possible as well that the lowest memory storage model of the iPhone 7 will increase as well. Although producing affordable devices is a consideration for every manufacturer, the amount of memory taken up by modern applications and videos really necessitates large amounts of memory.

More RAM

The combination of Apple’s proprietary software and the fact that the consumer electronics giant is one of the few mobile manufacturers to produce both software and hardware for its mobile devices has always ensured that the iPhone series runs extremely niftily. However, it has never been over-endowed in the RAM department, certainly in comparison with other major smartphones available on the market. This could see Apple double the RAM in the iPhone 7, from the 1 GB included in the iPhone 6, to 2 GB. The performance improvements offered by this could be considerable.

 Apple Wireless Charging

Wireless charging already exists in many pads and sleeves on the market, but there’s not an Apple wireless charging solution built into the phone…yet. Apple may or may not be working on wireless charging, depending on what rumors you believe. However, with the rise of wireless charging devices, it seems likely that Apple will want to jump on this train sooner rather than later. The iPhone 7 may well be optimized for inductive charging and released alongside an Apple wireless charging device for some great cross sales.

HD and QHD displays

Apple has lagged behind its major competitor Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. In terms of the quality of displays in the iPhone series, and the next generation iPhone 7 could offer the company the opportunity to produce its first HD smartphone and Qhd phablet.

DSLR-Quality Camera

There are several exciting possibilities for the next-gen iPhone camera. It could offer a two-lens system to massively boost the quality of images and potential for photo apps and settings. It could offer 4K video capture 21-megapixel photos. It may even offer a lens-swap option that lets you replace the lens with new version in real DSLR fashion (expect on a teeny-tiny scale). Whichever way Apple goes, it would be great to see a massive improvement in the camera and its picture taking options. It’s a selfie, selfie, selfie world out there, and Apple should capitalize on it.

Souped-up camera

The iPhone 6 camera was well received, and Apple has always delivered devices that are capable takers of photographs. But the rear-facing snapper in the iPhone 6 was not powerful in megapixel terms, and there are already rumors floating around that Apple will focus on significantly improving the specifications of the lens in the next iPhone release.

With this in mind, there are murmurings that the iPhone 7 could feature a 21-megapixel camera. This would be an absolutely massive improvement on the iPhone 6, and wouldeven slightly outrank the presumed megapixel rating of the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S6.

Whether or not this is realistic is debatable, but we could see the iPhone 7 featuring the first ultra-powerful camera in its history. There have also been analyst rumors that Apple will somehow incorporate Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) Technology into the iPhone 7, which would seemingly enable the smartphone to produce professional quality photographs. This seems pretty unfeasible, but is a rumor to heed as iPhone 7 leaks develop.

Dual-lens or periscope camera

Apple is also expected to greatly improve the photograph taking capabilities of the iPhone 7 when it is finally unveiled. With this in mind, it has been suggested that Apple will produce a dual-lens camera which produces photographic quality pictures. A new patent filing suggests that Apple’s future products may feature a revolutionary periscope camera, and that the iPhone 7 may be the device that debuts this.

Quad HD / 4K resolution

Finally, Apple is expected to significantly improve the resolution of the iPhone 7 display. With the corporation having recently released the world’s first 5K resolution desktop, It is even possible that we might see a 4K iPhone 7 Plus phablet. At the very least, we should see a quad HD iPhone 7 Plus, and a full HD iPhone 7 smartphone.

A9 processor

The iPhone 7 will need more juice in the tank in processing terms, and this is almost certain to result in a new A9 processor being at the heart of the device. There have already been reports that Samsung is working on the production of chips for the next generation iPhone, although there are currently conflicting media reports on this subject.

Sapphire Glass

The biggest rumor which turned out to be a red herring with regard to the iPhone 6 was the idea that Apple would significantly include Sapphire Glass in its production. The reason for this belief, and the ethos behind it, were both clear. Apple has ordered vast amounts of Sapphire Glass to utilize within its production line on at least one product, but it is as yet unclear as to when and on what this will be used. Certainly Apple opted against including it in the iPhone 6, but it could also reverse this decision for the next generation iPhone.

The logic behind this is that the durability of the iPhone series has been criticized in some quarters, and Sapphire Glass is thought to provide a more scratchproof surface than the Gorilla Glass which is utilized currently. Whether this will come to fruition this time out remains to be seen, but given the industrial quantities of this substance which Apple has definitely purchased, it seems pretty certain that it will feature in the iPhone at some point.

Projector:

According to the rumors, iPhone 7 is expected to have an in-built projector. This is not going to be the only phone to flaunt this feature as Samsung Galaxy Beam has a built-in projector that enables larger viewing experience via phone. But as we all know, Samsung follows in the footsteps on Apple and it has never been the other way around. May be, Apple would teach Samsung a lesson or two on how to incorporate a new technology! If this rumor comes true, most of users who work at corporate houses and use projectors for PowerPoint presentation would rush to buy it.

More Power

Obviously we can expect an Apple processor upgrade. Each new generation of the iPhone has added a very respectable increase to power and speed capabilities thanks to a new chip, and the iPhone 7 certainly won’t be an exception. There are rumors that the new chip will be 20% more powerful and 35% more efficient than anything seen in the iPhone 6. Other rumors state that there will be around 2GB of RAM in the 7 to help you manage all the latest apps.

 Unlocked NFC

This is an important one. Currently Apple does indeed use an NFC (near field communication) chip in its iPhone, but the chip is locked to only work with Apple Pay. It’s a strange decision, because NFC can be used for a ton of exciting activities by businesses and developers alike, allowing you to communicate at a distance with many different objects and devices. In a bid to expand the Internet of Things and iPhone compatibility, it would be great to see Apple unlock NFC for the iPhone7s.

iPhone 7 Price

Given its power-packed processor, innovative apps, best ever under-the-hood specs and crisper display, iPhone 7 is going to be costlier than all of its older siblings.  On an average, you may end up shelling anywhere between $649 and $849 to own this piece of technological beauty. We are completely clueless whether this pricing include a contract fee or not. However, as Android smartphone market is aggressively taking control of world mobile phone market, we can expect from the California-based company to keep the prices competitive enough to lure the larger segment as well as present an attractive buying proposition to fence sitters.

The height of speculations can go to a pretty crazy point with Apple. Also, we all know that the company always remains tight-lipped about its upcoming devices and software updates, to the level that it signs a MOU with the employees who are testing these.

Only a few devices go outside the company’s premise for real-time testing and the employees, who are chosen to do this, are kept on a tight leash but that does not stop the rumor mills and never going to curb the debate over the features of iPhone 7. Until the time, Apple announces the release date and price for the much-coveted Apple flagship, we must have to agree on the point that iPhone 7 is going to be lighter, smarter, bigger and of course an intuitive smartphone than its predecessors. Meanwhile, let us all wait to get the first glimpse of Apple iPhone 7 with bated breath!

Likely to be called the iPhone 7, the 2016 model might be available in multiple versions, with one targeted specifically “to emerging markets in Asia and Latin America.” That’s the exact wording used by the publication to describe the device, which will supposedly have an Intel modem chip inside.
While VentureBeat’s report details how important it is for Intel to have a presence in Apple’s iPhone, noting that the Intel 7360 LTE modem chip can deliver speeds of up to 450 megabits per second, supporting Category 9/10 LTE and 3X carrier aggregation, the most interesting tidbit of information offered by the publication regards iPhone differentiation.
It’s not clear whether emerging markets in Asia and Latin America will get a cheaper iPhone 7, or the same iPhone 7 every other market will receive, with the sole distinction being LTE modem choice. But the publication does say it’ll be a “special” version.
Apple has yet to launch new low-cost iPhone models alongside flagship devices. Instead of taking this approach, Apple has always kept older iPhones in its lineup and sold them at cheaper prices. Not even the iPhone 5c was the affordable iPhone many people thought it would be.
With Intel modems, Apple might simply be looking for a second supplier of LTE chips for the iPhone, not only to ensure it has enough components to meet huge demand, but also to put pressure on Qualcomm, the sole provider of LTE modems for iPhones, and an “uneasy relationship for Apple.”
“Second sourcing [finding a second supplier for] a major component might give Apple the upper hand in the relationship,” one source told VentureBeat.
Other details about this distant iPhone 7 haven’t yet been revealed.

Rumours

Speculation suggests, as does Apple's typical two-year cycle, that the iPhone 7 won't look much different to its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus predecessors.
The smartphone is expected to feature the same sculpted aluminium body, and to be available in the same white, space grey and gold colour options. There's also talk that the iPhone 7 will be available in pink, but we'd take this with a pinch of salt.
While the design is unlikely to change much, rumours suggest that Apple might opt for a scratch-proof sapphire display in the next-generation iPhone, such as that found on the Apple Watch.
Production problems reportedly prevented the iPhone 6 launching with a sapphire screen, but speculation claims that Apple has teamed with Foxconn to get the tough displays ready in time.
In terms of screen size, there's talk that Apple will release multiple variations of the iPhone next year, one with a 4.7in screen and one with a 5.5in screen. Some rumours claim that Apple will also release a smaller 4in model aimed at customers with small hands.
Separate rumours via Patently Apple claim that the firm could follow in the footsteps of the Galaxy S6 Edge by adding a curved display.
The Wall Street Journal (paywalled) reports that the display on the iPhone 7, curved or not, will feature the same Force Touch technology introduced in Apple's first 12in MacBook, enabling a touch-sensitive surface to register degrees of pressure as well as movement.
This screen is also likely to show off Apple's next-generation iOS release, iOS 9. This is expected to debut at Apple's WWDC conference in June, but won't be that exciting, according to a report on 9to5Mac, as it will focus on bug fixes and stability improvements rather than new features.
Despite this, there is talk that iOS 9 will feature an overhauled Maps service, and a split-screen mode for iPad users. We can also assume it will include the Apple Watch app that debuted alongside iOS 8.2, allowing users to pair and sync the wearable with the smartphone.
According to rumours, Samsung has fought off rivals including TSMC to provide the main chip for the next iPhone. Sources in the semiconductor industry claim that Samsung will supply the A9 application processor for the iPhone 7.
This will be paired with 2GB RAM, according to a report from Technews.tw, the same as inside the iPad Air. 
In terms of storage, the iPhone 7 is likely to be available in the same 16GB, 64GB and 128GB variations as its predecessor. 
It's been reported by Daring Fireball's John Gruber that the next iPhone will have "the biggest camera jump ever", featuring a two-lens system which apparently brings it up to digital SLR quality. He suggested that Apple might opt for Sony's new 21MP image sensor, the Exmoor RS.
Beyond that, we don't know much about the iPhone 7 yet, although some speculate that it might be the first iPhone to launch with wireless charging.

According to the report, this would make way for new applications such as "a piano-playing app that would make different sounds when touched lightly or more heavily".

About Release date

If Apple sticks to its traditions, we can expect the iPhone 7 to arrive in mid-September 2015. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were unveiled on 9 September 2014 (and released to the public on 19 September); theiPhone 5c and iPhone 5s were unveiled on 10 September 2013; theiPhone 5 was unveiled on 12 September.

so we expect that iPhone 7 can be launched around mid-september.

Fuzitsu Heat Pipe, AMD's Radeon Next Gen Smartphone and USB-C vs USB 3.1

New Fujitsu heat pipe technology could cool your next smartphone

One of the basic technologies that modern PCs rely on for CPU and GPU cooling may be making its way to mobile devices, thanks to pioneering work from Fujitsu Laboratories. The organization claims its new design can transfer 5x more heat than existing thin heat pipes, all while adding less than a millimeter to device thickness. The technology could be useful in balancing higher performance devices with their inevitable temperature increases.
Great. What’s a heat pipe?

We are glad!!

We are happy to announce that

 we are moving to our website. 

Soon content will be moved to 

our official site.

Visit Our Site:

Being Engineers  

   Thank You For Support

A heat pipe is a closed-loop structure that relies on the thermal conductivity of its outer surface and the phase transition of an internal liquid to cool a chip.

Let’s unpack that a bit more. The diagram below shows a simple heat pipe:

As the fluid inside the heat pipe is heated, it eventually transforms into a vapor. That vapor travels to the “cool” side of the pipe, where it condenses back into a liquid, flows back into the “hot” side, and transforms into a vapor again. Heat pipes can improve thermal performance significantly when compared with solid metal alone, and are frequently used in laptops and many enthusiast desktop systems.
Why do I want one in my smartphone or tablet?
In the eight years since Steve Jobs launched the original iPhone, smartphone processor power has exploded upwards. The original iPhone used a Samsung 32-bit ARMv11 CPU underclocked to 420MHz. The performance improvements since then are actually difficult to illustrate because not many sites have tested every generation of phone, but Anandtechdid run the Browsermark 2.0 test across every Apple phone from the original to the 5S:

The Apple 5S was 5x faster than the original iPhone — as Anandtech’s full article shows, it’s actually a full 9x faster than the iPhone 3GS in a test like Geekbench.
However, this vastly increased performance, screen resolution, and LTE capability all comes at a cost. The chips inside modern phones can generate significantly more heat, even accounting for process technology improvements.
Heat pipes, therefore, are one potent way that manufacturers could reduce hot spots and improve device cooling without needing fans or bulky materials. The one trend that could derail the use of this technology is the industry’s terminal addiction to thinness as the overriding trait of choice in a next-generation phone. Personally, I think the trend has gone too far — I’d rather have a more robust device that doesn’t require a bulky case than a sliver of a smartphone that needs to be wrapped in plastic and rubber — but clearly I’m in the minority.
Fujitsu doesn’t state how much the final heat pipe weighs, but given its dimensions it can’t be much. The company hopes to deploy the technology commercially by 2017, which means it could be ready for smartphones and tablets about the same time as 10nm process technology.




AMD’s Radeon for next-gen smartphone, tablet graphics chip




A new report today indicates AMD may be teaming up with MediaTek to bring its Radeon graphics solution to tablets and smartphones. If true, it could open new markets for AMD’s hardware and fix what many have believed was a significant mistake.
Back in 2009, AMD negotiated the sale of its Imageon division to Qualcomm for $65 million. Qualcomm later took the Imageon line and rebranded it as Adreno (Adreno being an anagram of Radeon), and turned the segment into the cornerstone of its custom SoC division. AMD has taken a great deal of heat over the years for selling the business segment, but I’ve never been personally convinced it was a bad move. While it’s possible that the company could’ve earned better returns from continuing to license its IP to Qualcomm, it’s also possible that Qualcomm wasn’t interested in continuing that arrangement, or that AMD simply didn’t have cash to spare to drop into mobile graphics. Selling a business unit at a modest profit is better than hanging on to a segment you can’t afford to develop until the IP is outdated and useless.
Regardless of what the company might have done differently six years ago, this new dealcould mean AMD is preparing to throw its hat back into the smartphone and tablet ring. Now, if you’re familiar with Radeon’s latest desktop incarnations, that might seem a bit odd — the company’s hardware is notably less power efficient than Nvidia’s Maxwell, after all.

AMD’s Mullins hardware (that’s the second-generation Kabini) have TDPs of ~4.5W and are meant for tablets to start with. That 4.5W TDP includes both the CPU and GPU, with 128 cores, 8 texture mapping units, and 4 render outputs. It should be theoretically simple for MediaTek to pair a Radeon mobile GPU with an ARM core of their own design.

AMD rebuilt Carrizo’s GPU to specifically use less power.
If AMD’s Project Skybridge has advanced to any degree, it seems likely that the company has experience with pairing ARM Cortex cores and its own Radeon GPUs as well. The entire point of Skybridge was to build a swappable platform that x86 and ARM cores could both interface with — and that process is simplified if both SoCs have the same graphics engine. Toss in the fact that AMD has further refined its SoC implementation of its own GCN architecture by pulling down overall power consumption, and you’ve got a plausible case for how AMD would drop a mobile Radeon core into an ARM SoC and license that architecture to a third party.
The driver conundrum
The big question about how AMD would license its hardware to third parties actually doesn’t revolve around the GCN architecture at all, nor its implementation. The sticking point would be drivers — and whether AMD could provide a top-notch experience under Android.
Linux performance and compatibility has always been dodgy for AMD when compared with Nvidia or Intel. AMD, to its credit, has apparently been laying plans to improve its overall state of Linux support, but that’s a long-term initiative. Linux, of course, isn’t identical to Android, but the ability to write good driver code in a non-Windows platform is still critical to any licensing initiative. This is an issue that’s tripped up larger companies; Intel’s Bay Trail for Android was reportedly months late due to issues with the Android GPU drivers.
If AMD can provide the software, however, a MediaTek partnership could make a good deal of sense, particularly if that arrangement included support for features like HSA or helped push APIs like Vulkan into the mainstream. For now, it’s just a rumor, but with Nvidia largely pulling out of mobile, AMD may feel there’s an opening it can step into. Lisa Su, AMD’s CEO, has talked about continuing to pursue new market opportunities for embedded products — this could be one of the business segments she had in mind.

USB-C vs. USB 3.1

With the launch of the Apple MacBook and Google’s Chromebook Pixel, USB-C (also called USB Type-C) and the accompanying USB 3.1 standard are both hitting market somewhat earlier than we initially expected. If you’re curious about the two standards and how they interact, we’ve dusted off and updated our guide to the upcoming technology. The situation is more nuanced than it’s been with previous USB standard updates — USB 3.1 and USB Type-C connectors may be arriving together on the new machines, but they aren’t joined at the hip the way you might think.
USB Type-C: Fixing an age-old problem
The near-universal frustration over attempts to connect USB devices to computers has been a staple of nerd humor and lampooned in various ways until Intel finally found a way to take the joke quantum.

USB Type-C promises to solve this problem with a universal connector that’s also capable of twice the theoretical throughput of USB 3.0 and can provide far more power. That’s why Apple is pairing up Type-C and USB 3.1 to eliminate the power connector on the MacBook. It’s a goal we agree with, even if we’re less thrilled with the company’s decision to dump USB ports altogether with that single exception. Google’s approach, in providing two USB-C and two regular USB 3.0 ports, is obviously preferable, even though it adds a bit of bulk to the machine.

Type-C connectors will be shipped in a variety of passive adapters (an earlier version of this story erroneously asserted that such cables would not be available, Extremetech regrets the error). The spec provides for passive adapters with USB 3.0 / 3.1 on one end and USB Type-C on the other.
USB-C, USB 3.1 not always hooked together
The Type-C plug can be used with previous standards of USB, which means manufacturers don’t automatically have to adopt expensive 3.1 hardware if they want to include it in mobile devices. Apple, to be clear, is offering USB 3.1 on the new MacBook, though the company hasn’t disclosed which third party vendor is providing the actual chipset support.

A USB Type-C port next to USB 3.0.
The disconnect between USB 3.1’s performance standard and the USB Type-C connector is going to inevitably cause confusion. One reason the shift from USB 2.0 to 3.0 was relatively painless is because coloring both the cables and plugs bright blue made it impossible to mistake one type of port for the other.
The upside to decoupling USB 3.1 from USB-C, however, is that companies can deploy the technology on mobile phones and tablets without needing to opt for interfaces that inevitably consume more power. Then again, some might argue that this would be a moot point — the USB controller can be powered down when it isn’t active, and when it is active, the device should be drawing power off the PC or charging port anyway. Heat dissipation could theoretically remain a concern — higher bandwidth inevitably means higher heat, and in devices built to 3-4W specifications, every tenth of a watt matters.
If I had to bet, I’d bet that the 100W power envelope on USB 3.1 will actually be of more practical value than the 10Gbps bandwidth capability. While it’s true that USB 3.1 will give external SSD enclosures more room to stretch their legs, the existing standard still allows conventional mechanical drives to run at full speed, while SSDs can hit about 80% of peak performance for desktop workloads. It might not be quite as good, but it’s a far cry from the days when using USB 2.0 for an external hard drive was achingly slow compared to SATA. Signal overhead is also expected to drop significantly, thanks to a switch to a 128-bit and 132-bit encoding scheme, similar to that used in PCI-Express 3.0.

The ability to provide 100W of power, as opposed to 10W, however, means that nearly every manufacturers could ditch clunky power bricks. There would still be concern about ensuring that connect points were sufficiently reinforced, but provided such concerns can be accounted for, the vast majority of laptops could switch over to the new standard. Hard drives and other external peripherals could all be powered by single wires, as could USB hubs for multiple devices.
The higher bandwidth is nice, and a major selling point, but the flippable connector and the power provisioning will likely make more difference in the day-to-day reality of life. As forcompetition with Intel’s Thunderbolt, USB 3.1 will continue to lag Intel’s high-speed standard, but as bandwidth rises this gap becomes increasingly academic. At this point, it’s the features USB doesn’t allow, like RAID and TRIM, that matter more than the raw bandwidth does in most cases.
Apple’s MacBook will be first out the door with USB 3.1 and USB-C support, with vendors scurrying to match the company on both counts. LaCie has announced a new revision of itsPorsche Design Mobile Drive that takes advantage of the Type-C connector, but only offers USB 3.0. It’s going to take time for the 3.1 spec to really show up on peripheral devices, even those that adopt the USB-C cable. Motherboard support outside the Apple MacBook is probably 4-5 months away, though the first peripheral cables should be available well before that point.

Watch Video:

As Fujitsu notes, the conventional method for managing the excess heat generated by components in a smartphone has been to install sheets of metal or graphite with relatively high thermal conductivity. 

But the company claims that the thermal conductive properties of these materials have reached their limit.Fujitsu's answer to this is the 'loop heat pipe', a thin heat-transfer device filled with a liquid coolant that works to move heat away from the hot component towards a cooler part of the device.

Graphene breakthrough hints at smartphone batteries that could last 25 percent longerHeat pipes aren't new to the computer industry and are already in use to move heat away from CPUs. But at less than 1mm thick, Fujitsu sees potential for its device to be attached to the CPU of a smartphone or tablet. It also claims that its design means it won't drain the device's battery.

"A loop heat pipe is a heat-transfer device that consists of an evaporator that absorbs heat from the heat source and a condenser that dissipates that heat away, with the two components connected by pipes into a loop," the company said."

A working fluid is encapsulated inside this closed loop as a coolant. The heat from the heat source evaporates the coolant, and the energy that goes into evaporating the coolant is taken away from the heat source, lowering its temperature. It is based off of the same principle used when sprinkling water on pavement to reduce heat."

The loop contains a vapour phase (where the heat is moved away from the CPU) and a liquid phase where that heat is dissipated and returned to the hot spotStacked sheets of copper with tiny pores inside the evaporator mimic a sponge to create a "capillary action" that drives the liquid around the loop, ensuring the device's orientation won't disturb its ability to transfer heat.

On top of this, since the device relies on heat from the hot component, it won't cause a drain on the battery.

"Because this loop heat pipe uses the heat from the heat source to power thermal transfer, without using an external pump or other energy source, it does not increase the overall energy consumption of the device in order to diffuse heat, allowing for convenient and comfortable usage of electronic devices," Fujitsu said.

Fujitsu may have the answer: a thin heat pipe that can spread heat around mobile devices, reducing extremes of temperature.

Fujitsu Laboratories created a heat pipe in the form of a loop that's less than 1mm thick. The device can transfer about 20W, about five times more heat than current thin heat pipes or thermal materials, the company said.

The technology could improve smartphones' performance by helping cool their CPUs and other heat-producing components, spreading that heat more evenly across other parts of the phone.

Overheating has been an issue with some Samsung Galaxy smartphones, and the Korean manufacturer apparently dropped Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 processor from the Galaxy S6 due to excessive heat concerns.

While heat pipes have been used in laptops, they are uncommon in smartphones, where sheets of metal or graphite have been used instead. Fujitsu said its pipe is the first of its kind under 1 mm thick that can be used in thin electronic devices.

The pipe consists of a stack of 0.1mm-thick copper sheets containing channels through which water circulates by capillary action, meaning it will work regardless of a smartphone's orientation. One part of the heat pipe sits over a heat source such as a CPU, which evaporates the water. Another part, a thermal diffusion plate, acts as a condenser, turning the vapor back into liquid and returning it to the evaporator part.

While the heat pipe doesn't remove the heat from the smartphone, it might limit overheating in particular areas by spreading heat around and reducing the temperature of the hottest spots.

"For current smartphones, we predict the surface temperature to be reduced by several degrees, although this will vary depending on a variety of factors such as the internal structure of the smartphone," a Fujitsu spokesman said via email.The heat pipe could also reduce the frequency of automatic restrictions that smartphone CPUs apply when temperature is expected to rise, the spokesman added, meaning CPUs could work unhindered more often.

Fujitsu aims to commercialize the technology, which can be customized for different mobile device designs, by early 2018. It's also looking into uses in communications, medical and wearable devices.

Follow @siddhant_3

Home Of PC Software And Engineering Books

Being Engineers is a website hosted by a group of engineering students.

The site hosts a number of ebooks for various engineering streams such as computer science, electrical, electronics etc. The site also hosts programming codes in languages such as HTML, C, C++ and promises more soon.
There are a number of software to choose from now uploaded on site. These are hard to find elsewhere. 

To explore click on link below. 

Short URL: http://bc.vc/lczMFt

https://beingengineers.in

Like on Facebook

Facebook Page

Our Website

We are glad!!

We are happy to announce that

 we are moving to our website. 

Soon content will be moved to 

our official site.

Visit Our Site:

Being Engineers

    

   Thank You For Support

Whatsapp Calling Feature

Whatsapp an android application which is famous for its instant chat service now has become the top most rated app in the android market. With over 700+ million whatsapp user this app lets you connect with your friends and family 24*7.


Whatsapp had a feature of sending text messages in addition to sending files such as image, audio or video files. Now with the latest version of whatsapp you can also call to your friends without paying any charge. It uses the same data connection that your phone is connected to and doesn’t charge for any usage.

WhatsApp has rolled out its new free voice-calling feature to a few users India which appears to be available on invite-only basis, as of now. The invite-only basis basically means that users will get a call through WhatsApp from someone who already has the feature updated. The feature is also restricted to Android only and you will need the updated 2.11.508 version to access the app.





According to the images posted, users who receive the voice-calling feature will notice an icon for it, beside the Chats and Contacts tabs. The call interface seems to quite similar to a smartphone’s contact directory. The app keeps a record of recent WhatsApp calls as well.

WhatsApp’s voice-calling roll-out comes soon after rival Indian app Hike rolled out for free voice-calling on 2G and 3G for their app. Of course in terms of user engagement, WhatsApp is ahead of it rivals. Facebook, which bought WhatsApp last year, recently revealed that the app has 700 million monthly active users and that over 30 billion messages are shared on WhatsApp everyday. With voice-calling feature coming soon, it’s likely that WhatsApp’s engagement number will rise further.

Rumors says that : 

Whatsapp has finally received the Voice Calling feature, but it still has the invite only system. The feature is still in testing and we can’t compare it yet with other application that offers Voice Call yet. At least, not until it will be released to the all WhatsApp users.

WhatsApp is currently available on Android but is still under invite-only. It seems that the developers are still testing the feature until they release it for all WhatsApp Android users. At the same time, there are rumors saying that the WhatsApp Voice Calling feature is going to get released for iPhones. However, the Voice Calling feature for iOS is still in initial stages and it will take a while until it will get in BETA. We remind you that the Voice Calling feature for WhatsApp on Android started rolling out in January 2015.

During the test, a beeping sound was heard in the middle of the call. Call drops happen frequently also, but this is caused by the bad internet connection of the device. Most of the issues are found when you are trying to use this feature while connected to a 2G connection. However, even when you are using a broadband connection you will notice sometimes lags and echoes, so it seems that the connection is not the only problem. Without any doubt, the developers will still have to work a lot on this feature before they release it for all Android users.

WhatsApp’s Voice Calling feature consumes a lot of data, mostly the same as you would watch YouTube HD videos. Tests were made on both mobile data networks and Wi-Fi. The feature works like a charm while using a 3G/4G connection and Wi-Fi, but on 2G connection, the call starts lagging and you will notice a drop in the quality of the call also.
During the call, you can do some operations like Mute, loud-speaker and at the time of call, you can send messages. It shows the listing of your contacts whenever you proceed to make a call.

How to get this feature:

Step 1: The very first thing is to get latest version of WhatsApp. from Google playstore If you already have WhatsApp installed, please upgrade it to the latest version.

Step 2: This feature requires an invite so ask any of your friend who has already got this feature activated on its WhatsApp to call you.

Step 3: Restart your phone and you must have WhatsApp calling feature activated as well. Enjoy

Step 4: Once you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your Android phone, ask someone who has WhatsApp calling enabled to make a WhatsApp call to your number.

 Multiple users have reported that giving a missed call doesn't work. You'll have to receive the call and wait for a few seconds before disconnecting to activate WhatsApp voice calling.

   When the feature is enabled on your smartphone, you'll see a new three-tab layout   on WhatsApp, one each for Calls, Chats and Contacts.